Gym rat - Someone who spends all leisure time playing sports or working out in a gymnasium or health spa. addict, freak, junkie, junky, nut - someone who is so ardently devoted to something that it resembles an addiction
(The Free Dictionary)
If you’d told me 4 years ago that I would one day become addicted to the gym, I would have laughed – so hard. Of course, I knew the benefits of working out, I had the theory part nailed down. And it’s not like I was completely inactive either. I used to be part of an Aikido club back in my youth and I even joined a gym in Sydney. But I wouldn’t take working out that seriously. Doing Aikido was more about being part of a community than actually increasing my fitness level. I was more the chubby type of kid, you see, that would put on weight by eating salad or looking at a cake. Working out was not high-up in my priority list. I would dance, do horse riding every now and then, go for walks, go swimming once a week… That would be my idea of “working out”.
When I moved to Sydney, I joined the University gym. Part of it was convenience (I had to walk pass it to go to work, so why not stop on the way back?), part of it was killing time. I moved to Australia for an internship and Sydney was the theoretical bit of it – my main activity was reading papers and getting acquainted with my subject of study: Melophorus bagoti (see picture). There’re only so many papers you can read on ants before needing a break; the gym seemed the perfect way to disconnect. For 3 months, I would go to the gym every week day for at least 2hrs. A little bit of Zumba, a little bit of treadmill, and a little bit of yoga would be my usual routine. I tried myself to a spinning class once – almost died in there and literally had to fall off the bike to get off it. Weirdly enough, I never set foot in a spinning class since then. I’d definitely break a sweat in there, but retrospectively I wouldn’t say I pushed myself super hard.
After Sydney, I moved here and there for a while and my main activities were cycling to work (45min, regardless the weather) and going dancing at least once a week. Overtime, my body changed. Not as a result of physical activity. I was simply growing up, my morphology was changing, and I lost more weight out of stress (compensating with food) than I did out of any diet or exercising. And then, I started doing research as a full time job.
When I arrived in England, I thought it’d be good to join a gym, be healthy. For the first time in 2 years, I was staying somewhere put for at least 11 months. I found a gym, a nice place with good enough facilities for what I wanted to do – Zumba classes, treadmills, and a sauna. Soon enough, I realised that was not enough. I needed more to release the stress and frustration associated with research. So I started running. Understand this, running was one of the worst type of exercise I could think of. I didn’t see the point in it, I couldn’t imagine it being a pleasurable activity, and anyone running must be trying to compensate for some horrible past lives… And here I was, running. Nothing crazy at first, I would go for runs with friends, chatting through a slow 3 to 5km. And I liked it.
As I started my PhD, running was my main physical activity. I quit my (overpriced) gym and starting going for runs three to four times a week. I even started travelling with my running shoes in my bag so I can go for runs wherever I am! A year after that, I joined our University gym and I started trying out all sorts of classes. I must admit that I would have never tried most of them if I was going on my own.
Luckily, a fellow PhD student discovered the importance of the gym before me and took me along her journey, pushing me to go to more classes and trying out new things. I completely fell in love with Boxfit classes – I wasn’t that big a fan of the fitness part of it at first but I soon realised how important cardio is for boxing. Nowadays, most my training is about increasing my fitness level to improve my abilities in Boxfit classes – weight training, a bit of cardio, and yoga are my main focus. I even started going to the “gym-gym” to work on performances!
That is a bit of “what” I do but not “why” I do it…
A lot of people use exercising as an outlet because when you exercise, your brain starts releasing endorphin - the pleasure hormone. When put through moderate pain or stress, the body will send reports to the brain to inform of that pain or stress. The brain then triggers a response to help the body cope with this, provoking the release of endorphins. Endorphins are a type of naturally-synthetized opioids, and like morphine it will ease pain and create a great feeling of wellbeing or euphoria. So really, gym rats and other sportspeople are a bit like addicts – they train and push their body more and more to experience this nice endorphin rush. Difference being you can’t get addicted to endorphins per se. As soon as the endorphins did their job and triggered this sense of well-being, they are recycled by the body. Other opioids (like morphine) are not recycled as fast, and their prolonged action on the body can create dependence.
That’s for the why – when you go to the gym/classes and push your body, you’ll start feeling your muscle fibres burning but if you push through, endorphins will quick in. That sense of euphoria at the end of session is not just about the endorphins easing the pain. It is the satisfaction of having accomplished something. Whatever you’re doing, no matter how heavy you lift or how far you run, your main adversary is yourself and the opinion you have of yourself. Pushing at the gym is not just about building visible muscles, it is about slowly outdoing yourself. Can you do one more bicep curl? Can you run a little bit faster on short distances? Can you run slower but for longer periods of time? The sense of achievement, no matter how big or small, is for me the best part about working out.
Working out is a state of mind, it is a social experience, and it is rewarding as hell, no matter what you do. Don’t let anyone put you down but take every compliment on board. If you are your worst enemy, other gym rats are you best allies.
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